Friday, October 14, 2011

Wanna See The 18 Levels of Hell?

On my previous blog post, I told you how heavenly Hua Seng Keng Temple was right? If you were here, you could enter the Mouth of the Dragon, being blessed by the Goddess of Mercy, ascending a cave, had a peek at huge terrapins, enjoying the calm scenery and even spot a Merlion. I have showed and explained to you everything that you can see in Hua Seng Keng Temple except for one building. If you look closely all all my photos in my previous post, you would have noticed (if you are being curious). Wanna know which mysterious building I am talking about? Look at the following two photos to see the enigmatic building.

Yes. You missed out on this building.

What's inside of this "castle"?

Yupe! Thit is the building which I deliberately didn't talk about in my previous post. Why? Well...because there are simply too many photos for me to show it to you guys. Hence I need a new blog post like to stuff all those snaps that I have taken. But before that...can you guess (without looking at the title...again) what is in this building? Or a castle if you like. Any idea? Do you wanna have a thrilling ride with me? Buckle up your helmet, fasten your safety belts and put on your safety goggles. Because we are going to...

We are going to hell and I am smiling?

...yes. We are going to HELL folks! Are you ready to meet you KEEPER? Please be advised that the images that you are about to view may provoke you and even cause discomfort. Those with heart attack should not continue beyond this line as I won't be in anyway responsible in case you are seized by cardiac arrest. Those who have been doing bad deeds should continue reading as you can be well prepared to meet your tormentors! It's time to go to HELL...18 levels of them altogether.

Why there are metals "plates" being hung on the way to Hell?

Two cranes perching on top of the final reminders.

May our journey to be blessed...

Wait...wait...hold your horses. Before you continue your descend...I would love to explain more about the concept of Hell according to our Chinese belief. You see...18 Levels of Hell has been introduced since the Tang Dynasty. Actually according to the Buddhist text The Transcript of Asking Hell (问地狱经), there is 134 levels of hell but for our convenience, it has been simplified to 18 levels of Hell instead. The following is a list of common tortures and torments in the 18 levels of Hell, taken from Wikipedia:

Mountain of knives – sinners are made to shed blood by climbing a mountain with sharp blades sticking out. Some depictions show offenders climbing trees with knives instead of mountains.

Cauldron torture – sinners are fried in oil cauldrons. Some depictions show offenders being steamed instead of being fried.

Dismemberment – sinners' bodies are dismembered by various means, including: sawing, carving, slicing into half, mashing/pounding into pulp, crushed by heavy rocks/boulders, being run over by vehicles

Grinding torture – sinners are put into a grinding machine and ground into a bloody pulp

Tortures involving fire

Burning – sinners are set aflame/cast into fiery infernos

Paolao torture – sinners are stripped naked and made to climb a large metal cylinder, with a fire lit at its base.

Boiling liquid torture – sinners have a boiling liquid forced down their throats

World of ice – sinners are frozen in ice. Some depictions show unclothed sinners suffering from frostbite in an icy world. The bodies might fall apart or break into pieces.

Scales and hooks torture – sinners have hooks pierced into their bodies and hung upside down. Some depictions show sinners having nails hammered into their bodies.

Pool of blood – sinners are cast into a pool of blood and suffer bloody deaths, such as blood spilling from all body orifices

Tortures involving animals – sinners are trampled by cattle, gored by animals with horns/tusks, mauled/dismembered/eaten by predators, stung/bitten by poisonous species etc.

Chamber of Avici – the period of suffering in this chamber is the longest and it is reserved for sinners who have committed heinous crimes, including the Five Grave Offences

Guess that Hell is really not a nice place to end up huh! Especially if you have to go through all 134 levels...opps I mean 18 levels. I bet the pain suffered down there is even greater than what we mortals are enduring. And I am sure...those torturers are "sadists", who derive pleasure from hurting and tormenting their prisoners. Sinners...fall on your knees now. It is time for you to repent. Then again repentance might not be enough to save you from you worst nightmare...

Upon entering Hell you will be greeted by the reapers with bull's head and face of a horse.

Bow to the Haedes or King of the Underworld.

Is this the final judgement?

Usually you will see them when you end is near...

A sneak peek of how hell looks like. Ready for more?

Sinner being hit with a weapon?

I wonder why she is here? What are her sins?

Who is He?

Sinners will be fed to pythons.

Imagine you being strangled by this huge snake.

Sinners weeping behind those bars...can you hear their cries?

Once you are down there...you will be chained all the time.

Torturers grinding one of the sinners. YES! GRIND!

This sinner here is being dipped in a boiling wok of oil.

Imagine your body being sawn into halves...

I wonder why he was impaled to this giant burning rod. He used to be a pole dancer?

A liar has its tongue being scrapped by his tormentor.

Now you are really "heartless".

Can you tell what this torturer is doing? Hitting the horse?

Look what is underneath the chariot?

OMG! Imagine you being spliced and diced mercilessly...

What sins have these girls committed?

Ouh...they are prostitutes...and they are the ones that cannot be reincarnated.

For those who have been punished, and have repented they will get to be reincarnated.
They are drinking the "memory cleansing" water?

Sinners waiting for their turn to be reincarnated.

So what do you think about hell right now? Still believe that it is not something that you should be worried about? Think again. Guess it is really time for us to clean up our acts before regretting it later in those 18 (134) levels of Hell. Then again...the torturers and tortured souls look rather funny right? I wonder why the torturers are in green in colour? Any idea? Because green signifies evil? Now...you must be thinking, what if all those torturers in this "dungeon" become real and run riot right? I think they have thought about it as well. Hence 3 more Gods are being placed directly on top of this dungeon to suppress them. :p

The Guardians of the Hell I assume?

All in all I really enjoyed myself at Hua Seng Keng Temple. I am glad that my father-in-law took the trouble to drive us to this secluded temple in Kuala Gula. It was such an eye-opening experience for me. Never in my life have I seen the depictions of hell. So I must say that I was handsomely rewarded to visit Hua Seng Keng Temple. Why not? After all I got to have both heavenly and hellish experience in one place. Do visit this blissfully hellish place to see how you will be tortured when you die. LOL :D

Hua Seng Keng Temple-A breathtaking place to be.

View Kuala Gula in a larger mapHow to get to Hua Seng Keng Temple in Kuala Gula.